The Mayor of Accra, Alfred Vanderpuije has spent his 50th birthday which fell today by embarking on a cleanup exercise at the Awudome Cemetery.

The Accra Mayor cleared weeds and unwanted materials in and around the overgrown graveyard.

Speaking on PeaceFM’s Kokrokoo Morning Show, prior to the exercise, the AMA Boss said his action was informed by the principle of more blessings in giving than in receiving.

“I am going to spend my birthday cleaning the Awudome cemetery. I have learnt that when you get to a stage in your life, you need to learn to give than receive and it is a good principle to live by…My role model, President Mills teaches that when you get to a stage in your life and you are celebrating your birthday, you have to give to people so I have decided to dedicate my birthday to the service of the people. I started a cleaning project at the Osu cemetery two weeks ago so I want to sacrifice my birthday to clean the Awudome cemetery too,” he added.

He said the cemetery is the final resting place for every human being and it is better to keep it clean whiles one is alive.

“We all have relatives at the cemetery sleeping in the dirt and we will all die one day so we need to ensure that our eternal resting place is neat. We will all lie there one day though we do not know when. We need to keep the place clean for ourselves, let us prepare our place of death before we die. Osu cemetery is now clean so we can make Awudome cemetery clean as well,” he noted.